All posts tagged ‘Vita’

I had the rare opportunity to tour the Media Molecule studio in the UK. I took the chance to sit down with Rex Crowle and quiz him about their big new game for PlayStation Vita: Tearaway. As you can see there was lots of news and information about how this big project was shaping up.

Most interesting fact about the game is that its graphic engine has been designed around the requirement to create everything out of paper. This means that they can pull out paper-craft templates for any character, object or environment in the game and make them in the real world. It seems that this will be their way of offering physical (and free) rewards for player progress.

I came back from the visit laden down with some of these paper-craft goodies, not totally sure if my children would really want to make these strange creations. I couldn’t have been more wrong. They loved them and quickly got down to coloring, gluing and cutting. Here’s the result.

Tearaway Paper-Craft In The Wild

It was interesting to see how this gave them an immediate connection to the game, although they really hadn’t seen much of it. With other physical game elements often costing a lot of money (yes you Skylanders), the idea of a free and creative off-shoot from a Vita game is more than welcome. I actually imagine that they will spend as much time with these creations as they do playing the game. Not a bad thing!

If you are still hungry for more, here’s a new Tearaway trailer for the new location Crowle unveiled during the visit:

Tearaway has not yet been dated for release but will be a PS Vita exclusive.

LittleBigPlanet is difficult to describe, there’s just so much to it. Firstly there’s the top-notch platforming element that spans two games on the PlayStation 3 and one on the PSP. Going back and playing those again as reference for my review I was reminded how engaging they are, and what unusual worlds they create.

But of course they go beyond creating these worlds for you to play in and enable you to create worlds of your own. Their “Teach a man to fish…” approach to game design not only makes you appreciate how good Media Molecule is at using their own tools, but also presents a very real possibility of creating your own levels. Granted, you needed to invest a considerable amount of time and effort to do this, but it was more than worth the investment.

This world of possibility now comes to the PlayStation Vita. Some years on, after the initial LittleBigPlanet excitement has died down, it would be easy to overlook how significant this is for Sony’s powerful little system — not to mention budding game makers. With some great technical input from Dave Banks, here’s my family review on LittleBigPlanet Vita.Continue Reading “LittleBigPlanet Vita Family Review” »

Some ideas are destined to be. Just as the coming together of Lego, Star Wars and a video-game was written in the stars, LEGO Lord of the Rings has been looming on the horizon as inevitably as night following day.

As Matt Blum recently posted, LEGO Lord of the Rings has recently been announced, along with a rather mouth-watering trailer. Hoping to spy some more information on the aforementioned game I booked myself in for an interview with producer Mick Ricks at E3. I wasn’t disappointed.

First off I got some hands-on time with the game, playing the section that takes us into Moria to face a Cave Troll. As you can see in the video, both the setting and the characters have that same usual finesse from both Lego and TT Games. As Ricks discusses at length, the focus here was to create the map and the world of Middle Earth and it is really telling in the gameplay.

Although it’s an odd comparison, it felt like Alan Wake to me. That game created an open world environment before carving their story through the hills of the mid-west. There, it created a real sense of being lost in the wilderness. Here, in LEGO Lord of the Rings, it creates the feeling of scale and that you are playing in a wider environment.

The story elements of the game also feel different here. The Lego games have long been known for their comical re-rendering of classic franchises, but in this game TT Games are able to use dialogue straight from the motion picture. Ricks talked about this enabling them to deliver a more authentic experience for the player.

Along with the environments, they are also aiming to take characters on more of a journey. Ricks talked about a sense of development from the diminutive start points for many of the heroes in the game. Whether that is Aragorn’s rise to power, or the hobbits growing lists of skills and equipment, it is interesting to hear that TT Games want to take this game in a more role-playing direction.

As I mentioned in my LEGO Batman 2 video, Ricks also confirmed that LEGO Lord of the Rings will provide a local multiplayer mode for the potable versions. This is the ability to play co-op with other players provided you both have a copy of the game, a feature that was previously dropped back in 2008.

LEGO Lord of the Rings will be available on 1st October and is available to pre-order on Amazon from $29.99.

I’d forgive TT Games for getting fed up with my constant complaining of their dropping the multiplayer modes from the portable Lego games. It had become something of a hobby horse of mine — not least because my family love this local co-op option that was absent from Lego games after LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures in 2008.

As you can see in my Batman 2 Development Review video here with Phil Ring it was with not a little surprise that I discovered local multiplayer would be returning to the portable Lego games in LEGO Batman 2 DC Heroes. Hot dang! Calling home from E3 later that day my kids literally “whooped” with joy to hear that they could play the game together when it’s released on June 19th ($29.99 on Amazon).

The feature enables two players to play through the main story together by linking their two portable systems. It does require two copies of the game as there is no support for game sharing at present.

Lego Batman 2 3DS

Also expanded upon in the interview is the introduction of a fully voiced story, open world elements and special challenges unique to the portable versions. Even for something like me who has been on TT Games’ back for a lack of innovation in recent years, the sheer amount of effort on display in LEGO Batman 2 is impressive.

I’m looking forward to trying out the local multiplayer (and other aspects of the game) first hand and will report back with a full review in due course. The kids have said they are happy to help with the research on this one.

LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes will be available June 1st on 360, PS3, Wii, Vita, 3DS, DS and PC on Amazon from $29.99. A cheaper alternative is the first LEGO Batman game which also supports local multiplayer and can be found on Amazon from $14.99.

After the bluster and hoopla of a launch of new gaming hardware, the dust settles and we can enjoy the various games available for the system. Uncharted Golden Abyss, Wipeout 2048 and Lumines Electronic Symphony have kept me more than entertained. But nearing completion on each of those my thoughts naturally turn to the coming months for fresh video-gaming meat.

Before we get to the big year-end videogame releases we have plenty to look forward to on the PlayStation eVita this summer. In particular is a game called Gravity Rush that combines not only an unusual gravity altering play mechanic but delightful visuals and an intriguing story. This is proceeded by another big release, Resistance Burning Skies, that offers a Vita exclusive first-person shooter to extend the PS3 franchise.

Here are the Vita highlights over the next few months:

Gravity Rush

Gravity Rush June 12th – Gravity Rush, Gravity Daze in Japan, comes from the talent behind the Silent Hill games. Its novelty rather than horror that take center stage here though as the game enables you to manipulate gravity to access new areas, solve puzzles and attack enemies.

But it’s not only the unusual play mechanic that Gravity Rush has going for it. There is a brushed art style that reminded me of Valkyria Chronicles, and characters that seem to be well fleshed individuals. By all accounts Gravity Rush is set to be the next killer Vita game.Continue Reading “Gravity Rush Tops the PS Vita Summer Games List” »

I was very excited to test out some of the promising new games for the PlayStation Vita. In this post I’ll take a look at Namco Bandai’s Touch My Katamari and Zipper Interactive’s Unit 13. Matt Blum has already written a comprehensive review of the new portable system.

The multi-tasking abilities of the PS Vita make it easy to play any game, even update game data, and go back to Settings with the punch of the PS Home button, and a flick of your finger to “turn down” the game screen, and another swipe of the finger to change to another home screen of applications or media.

Photo courtesy Namco Bandai Games America Inc.

Touch My Katamari is an amusing game that is designed for kids 10 and over, but will no doubt appeal to adults as well. Touch My Katamari is the heir to a series that started on the PS2 platform in 2004. The storyline is still the same. A character that appears like a cousin of the Android man with a cork sized head has to gather up in a rolling motion as many objects as possible within a set time limit, so that at the end of each level the King of All Cosmos can turn your gigantic tangle of bits and pieces into a shining star. You start with a small clump and gradually pick up more and more pieces of random things. I found it sort of relaxing in a weird sort of way, watching the little green man with titanic strength, pushing his enormous ball of flotsam and jetsam around.

The Sony PlayStation Vita officially launches today, bringing with it over two dozen games and a host of promises. Without a new version of the PlayStation console announced, Sony is clearly counting on the PS Vita to restore some of the prestige lost in the gaming world with the troubles dogging its PlayStation Network. Whether that will happen remains to be seen, of course, but I can say that the Vita is a remarkable achievement in handheld gaming devices.

It’s nothing if not sleek, small enough to fit in a pocket (albeit a fairly big one) but with a screen that can’t help but remind one of the iPhone 4′s Retina display, only bigger — though the Vita’s screen has slightly worse resolution than the Retina, at 960 x 544 the difference is largely unnoticeable.

Vita’s tight design and relative lack of moving parts work to enhance its durability. Not only have I let my 9- and 11-year-old kids play with it, but they and I have dropped it a few times and it still looks brand new. It fits comfortably in two hands, with miniaturized versions of the PlayStation controls that work very well, even if using the tiny dual analog joysticks did make my hands cramp up after a while. But I have unusually large hands, so your mileage may vary.

The Sony PlayStation Vita officially launches today, bringing with it over two dozen games and a host of promises. Without a new version of the PlayStation console announced, Sony is clearly counting on the PS Vita to restore some of the prestige lost in the gaming world with the troubles dogging its PlayStation Network. Whether that will happen remains to be seen, of course, but I can say that the Vita is a remarkable achievement in handheld gaming devices.

It’s nothing if not sleek, small enough to fit in a pocket (albeit a fairly big one) but with a screen that can’t help but remind one of the iPhone 4′s Retina display, only bigger — though the Vita’s screen has slightly worse resolution than the Retina, at 960 x 544 the difference is largely unnoticeable.

Vita’s tight design and relative lack of moving parts work to enhance its durability. Not only have I let my 9- and 11-year-old kids play with it, but they and I have dropped it a few times and it still looks brand new. It fits comfortably in two hands, with miniaturized versions of the PlayStation controls that work very well, even if using the tiny dual analog joysticks did make my hands cramp up after a while. But I have unusually large hands, so your mileage may vary.

How we look after our new gadgets, especially the new ones, probably says a lot about who we are. It’s a personal choice whether you want to protect, show off, hide or embellish your newly owned device. The PS Vita has so many cases, headphones, covers and guards that you could be forgiven for thinking it was made of egg shell.

Having lived with the Vita for a couple of weeks now I thought it might be helpful to share my real life use observations, and the accessories I have put on order. You may not want to go the same route as me, but at least it will give you a guide as to what’s available. Continue Reading “Essential PS Vita Accessories” »

It took me a little while to realize that the First Edition Bundle of the PS Vita was available a week sooner (15th Feb) than the general PS Vita release (22nd Feb). I know, the clue’s in the name, I must just be a little slow. However, now I’ve caught up with everyone else pre-ordering a PS Vita I thought it might be interesting to see what you get exactly for your $50.

This comes to a total of $379.96, which initially seems like pretty good value seeing as you are paying $349.99 — especially considering the early access to the system. However, the more I talked this over with my wife the less sure I was about jumping in early.